Outlook 2002 Won't Open After Installing Bitdefender Total Security 2011

fishingwithfredo

I've just installed BitDefender Total Security 2011 on six computers. Two of those computers immediately had problems with Microsoft Office Outlook 2002 not opening (see screen shots). If I choose to restart Outlook it will just give me this same error message again and again. Word & Excel operate just fine, it seems to be confined to Outlook.

The O/S is Windows XP Professional 2002 (Service Pack 3). I uninstalled all other security solutions before installing BitDefender Total Security 2011.

- I've scanned for any kind of malware and it's found nothing (or it's found it, corrected the problem, and Outlook still doesn't open).

- I also went to Add/Remove programs, clicked "Change" for Microsoft Office and had it repair Outlook. It did this and said it had successfully repaired installation, but still Outlook doesn't open.

- I've tried renaming the extend.dat file to extend.old (recommended by Microsoft, didn't help).

- I added Outlook.exe and Microsoft Office to the list of Allowed Exclusions in the Antivirus/Advanced Settings section of BitDefender Total Security 2011. This also didn't help.

- I can access the email in safe mode. Although the last time I tried this I couldn't get into safe mode, the computer locked up, now I'm starting to get nervous.

While I'm not sure that BitDefender is the problem it does seem odd that this happened almost immediately (on both computers) after installing it, and we've never had this problem before. Also, on the other computers (where a more current version of Outlook, 2007, is installed) BitDefender worked just fine.

If you have any ideas please let me know, likewise if you need more information.

fishingwithfredo

UPDATE: I uninstalled BitDefender and Outlook opens up fine. So yes, BitDefender was the culprit.

Anyone have any thoughts as to why it would work fine with 2007 Office but not with 2002 Office (specifically Outlook)?

Unknown

Hi,

Indeed we had some reports in 2009 about Outlook 2002 and crash caused by the bdo.dll. The file is part of the Antispam module. Note that the 2011 version of BitDefender is only compatible with: Outlook 2003, 2007 or 2010.

You can find this info in the System requirements for each product, under Required Software. Also I would recommend you to take a look at the following location in your PC where the BitDefender Offline Manual is stored:

C:\Program Files\BitDefender\BitDefender 2011\Support\offlinemanual\html

Kind regards,

fishingwithfredo

So, just to be sure I completely understand, there is no work around for this other than upgrading all of our 2002 versions of Office or returning BitDefender? Obviously I'd rather not do that if I don't have to.

And thank you for answering my question.

Hi,

Indeed we had some reports in 2009 about Outlook 2002 and crash caused by the bdo.dll. The file is part of the Antispam module. Note that the 2011 version of BitDefender is only compatible with: Outlook 2003, 2007 or 2010.

You can find this info in the System requirements for each product, under Required Software. Also I would recommend you to take a look at the following location in your PC where the BitDefender Offline Manual is stored:

C:\Program Files\BitDefender\BitDefender 2011\Support\offlinemanual\html

Kind regards,

Unknown

You can always revert to an older version of BitDefender compatible with Outlook 2002 however I would recommend you to use a newer version of it, 2003 or above. With all the respect, the version you are currently using is outdated.

You can find all the details about it below:

BitDefender 2009 System / Software requirements:

Software Requirements:

■ Internet Explorer 6.0 (or higher)

■ .NET Framework 1.1 (also available in the installer kit)

Antispam protection is provided for all POP3/SMTP e-mail clients. The BitDefender

Antispam toolbar however is integrated only into:

■ Microsoft Outlook 2000 / 2002 / 2003 / 2007

■ Microsoft Outlook Express

■ Microsoft Windows Mail

■ Thunderbird 1.5 and 2.0

Antiphishing protection is provided only for:

■ Internet Explorer 6.0 or higher

■ Mozilla Firefox 2.0

■ Yahoo! Messenger 8.1

■ Windows Live (MSN) Messenger 8.5

Instant Messaging (IM) encryption is provided only for:

■ Yahoo! Messenger 8.1

■ Windows Live (MSN) Messenger 8.5

BitDefender 2010 System/Software requirements:

Supported Software:

Antiphishing protection is provided only for:

● Internet Explorer 6.0 or higher

● Mozilla Firefox 2.5

● Yahoo Messenger 8.5

● Windows Live Messenger 8

Instant Messaging (IM) encryption is provided only for:

System Requirements 2

BitDefender Total Security 2010

● Yahoo Messenger 8.5

● Windows Live Messenger 8

Antispam protection is provided for all POP3/SMTP e-mail clients. The BitDefender

Antispam toolbar however is integrated only into:

● Microsoft Outlook 2000 / 2003 / 2007

● Microsoft Outlook Express

● Microsoft Windows Mail

● Thunderbird 2.0.0.17

Hope that helps you. Please note that in order to revert to an older version, ONLY IF you have a 7 digits license key, you will need to contact us so we can change the key to be usable for older versions (the 7 digits key is only to register the 2011 version). If that fits your needs simply send a PM to my colleague George R. and he will assist you further.

Kind regards,